From asking around the community, it is difficult to find cash flow under the current market conditions.

I think the real question should be what is the best CRM specifically for the real estate market (e.g. rentals, lending, etc.) - and that one I am still waiting for someone to come up with on.

Marketed the property for $179,000 and went under contract and closed for $186,000.

And it works in any real estate market depending on your needs.  

I am leaning towards demolishing the house and building a simple 3/2 but I have no market data in the city for new builds in recent years.

I’ve interviewed a couple of Realtors in Oklahoma City, but I’ve been finding that the general consensus there is that the market is not in a cash flow cycle.

If you cannot find what you’re looking for in your market and you don’t want to invest too far, consider pivoting to a single family home.

Gastonia is actually the primary market I work in with all of my investors and with the revitalization plans for the city I am quite bullish on the Gastonia market.

Indianapolis is a great market to get started in with affordable pricing.

Unlike the stock market, you can also use leverage, which could significantly increase your ROI.The bottom line is that you can get better returns investing in alternatives (real estate or otherwise) and more control investing in real estate (you have zero control over the stock market).